


Metal World: Girl

by famaniel



Category: Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Adventure, F/F, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:34:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26800726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/famaniel/pseuds/famaniel
Summary: After defeating Hades, Aloy’s quest is far from done. She has to learn enough about the old world’s technology to restart GAIA, so that the machines can go back to their terra-forming purpose.During her quest for answers, she meets a girl, that knows more about the past and about the Work of Elisabet Sobek, than possible.Who is she, and why does she follow Aloy?
Relationships: Aloy (Horizon: Zero Dawn)/Other(s)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 16





	1. The Stalkers

Aloy sat still in the tall grass. Her breath was flat, and she tried not to make a sound. Only a few yards in front of her, the air was shimmering. She could barely make out the shape of the creature, that had the ability to cloak itself by some magic. Aloy knew that _magic_ wasn’t actually the right word; this was some technology the ancients used, but she had so little clue how it worked, that she might as well call it magic. Aloy was maybe the only Nora who didn’t believe in magic; or in any form of divine intervention. Her own people -after shunning her for 20 years- now perceived her as their saviour. Sent by the All-Mother herself, to free the Nora people! Had she had any interest in political power or wealth, she would be their queen now.

Instead, she had set herself the task to restore _Zero Dawn_ , so the machines could go back to keeping the complex artificial ecosystem alive, that was built around them. Since the same person who had ended the old world, had denied them the knowledge of his world, Aloy had to seek it inside the ancient ruins by herself. Ruins that were guarded by machines.

Very slowly, she raised her bow. Even with only the outline of the creature barely visible, she knew exactly where to shoot. She put an arrow to the string, and carefully aimed. Then suddenly, she heard a hissing noise. Instinctively, she rolled to the side and barely evaded the small projectile.

She rolled to the side, and had a look at her shoulder. Her sleeve was torn and she saw a single drop of blood emerge from the skin on her arm.

“Damn it!” She hissed through gritted teeth. “Another one.”

The creature in front of her had heard her, and uncloaked. She got up and started running. She didn’t run in a straight line, but hopped from side to side, while running because she didn’t want the creatures to take a proper aim. She used bushes and trees to disappear from view, and a few moments later the creatures had lost her track, and started running around in a search pattern, cloaking and de-cloaking. Stalkers are dangerous, but not very bright.

While the first stalker inspected the bush she had been hiding behind a moment ago, she ducked deeper into the red weed, and raised her bow once more. The stalker didn’t move, it seemed to look for her trail.

Suddenly the second stalker de-cloaked to her right, it’s small head just inches from her face. Obviously, it had been hunting her, while she concentrated on the other one.

“Clever girl.” Aloy muttered, expecting the inevitable. But just when the stalker was about to strike, something hit it from the side. Sparks flew and the creature stumbled to the side. Without thinking, she jumped up and made it to the nearest tree. Pulling herself up the low hanging branches, she climbed out of reach from the attacking monster.

“Go, get the other one!” A voice called, and only then she looked down. The creature she had aimed her bow at only a minute earlier had taken pursuit, but now, when she was out of its immediate reach, headed for her rescuer, who was still fighting the second stalker. Aloy knew she needed to act. She reached for her bow only to find that it still was in the red weed below. She grabbed her spear from the strap on her back and dropped from the branch onto the back of the beast. It was a dangerous move, because if she missed the creature, she would be either trampled to death, or in reach of its weapons.

She made it. Her spear split the blue tubes, that connected the devices on the creatures back with its body. Two more slices with the sharp blade, and the arrow launcher and the part on the back, that made the creature invisible where gone. It reared up, and Aloy held onto it for dear life, while using the sharp tip of her spear to cut tube after tube. Blue hydraulic liquid spilled from the machine’s body. After a few seconds, the creature bucked once more and she fell off it’s back into the grass. She raised her spear to defend herself against the creature, but it’s legs had already given in. It collapsed next to her. She got up, looked at it for a moment, and then rammed the spear right through the beasts body. The mechanical sounds faded, and all the lights on the machine went dark.

* * *

Aloy turned to the site where her rescuer had fought the other stalker. The second stalker was dead, but there was no one in sight. Aloy picked up her bow, and carefully stepped forward.

“They hunt in packs these days. Always check, if they are more.” The voice suddenly said from behind. It was the voice of a girl, by the sound of it, a young girl. Aloy grabbed her spear a little tighter, not knowing if this stranger might pose any danger. She turned around. Next to the tree, she had just climbed, stood a girl of maybe 17 or 18 years. She looked frail and slender, her skin of a light brown, and her hair as black as coal. When she saw Aloy’s face her eyes went wide in surprise, and her jaw dropped.

“Are you alright?” Aloy asked carefully, stepping towards the girl hesitantly.

It took a few seconds, until the girl had gathered herself enough to speak.

“Doctor Sobeck?” She asked. Aloy froze.


	2. Tracking Aloy

Aloy stood in front of the stranger, frozen in shock. Her mind raced. How could this be? Who was this weird looking girl, who knew about Elisabet Sobeck? And why would she call Aloy by Sobeck’s name and title?

A million questions raced through Aloy’s mind as she stared at this weird girl, but all she could bring herself to say was:

“I’m not Elisabet Sobeck.”

The girl blinked.

“I’m sorry. You look so much like her! Just…quite a bit younger.”

Aloy raised her spear. “Who are you? What do you want from me? Are you _Eclipse_?”

The girl took a few steps back and raised her hands. “Wow, slowly. I’m not here to hurt you. If I were _Eclipse_ , I wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of helping you. I’d just watch that stalker tare you to shreds.”

“Depends on what they want with me.”

“If the stories I heard in Meridian are true, they want you dead. You killed their god.”

The girl had a point. After the fall of _HADES_ the _Eclipse_ had been in disarray. The network between the _foci_ had crumbled, and without a powerful leader, they were just a group of rogues. Dangerous when you encountered them, yes. But also always on the run, as the forces of Avad, the Carja sun-king, where tracking them down one after the other. So their most elaborate plan, when it came to Aloy was most likely “Kill her on sight!”

And Sylens? He was still out there somewhere, but he was not in league with the _Elcipse_. They wanted him dead even more than her. A traitor is worse than an arch-enemy, after all.

“Still doesn’t answer my question.” Aloy said.

“It answers one of them.” The girl said defensively, and lowered her gaze in a dramatical gesture.

Aloy could hardly suppress a smile. Point taken.

“My name is Paige.” The girl said.

Aloy relaxed a little, and lowered her spear. “Aloy.” She said.

“Yes, I know. It practically impossible to walk through the streets of Meridian these days without hearing people say your name.”

“That’s exactly why I am elsewhere. I don’t like it, when people make a big deal because of me. I’m will only return when this madness has stopped.”

The girl frowned. “Well, you’re going to have to wait a long while. After what you did, they’re going to give you your own page in the history books.”

“I hope not. I just want to be left alone.”

“You saved the city. I doubt the good people of Meridian know that you also saved the world.”

“I didn’t. This isn’t over. There’s still much to do. And I don’t need some girl from Meridian following me around. How did you find me?”

“I’m good at following a trail. And I am so not fangirling here.”

Aloy looked at her bewildered. “You’re not what?”

“I’ve spent the better part of the last twenty-odd years to find you. And no, I am not here, because you’re an admired war hero -or the anointed one if you’re Nora. I am here to help bring _Zero Dawn_ back to it’s full capacity.”

Aloy looked at the stranger suspiciously. “What do you know about _Zero Dawn_?”

“That is was created to save the world from the destruction by the machines. And that it’s broken.”

“No one knows about this. Well, except me and Sylens. Did he send you?”

“I don’t even know who that is!”

Aloy raised her eyebrows. Should she believe that? The girl was not wearing a focus, so she would not be in contact with Sylens, given he still had a focus that could link to another one. But the girl knew things, that only Aloy knew. And Sylens.

“If Sylens didn’t send you, how would you know about _Zero Dawn_?”

“I grew up in the ruins. If you spend half your life in there, you learn a thing or two. If this Sylens guy is so interested in you, don’t you think he would come in himself, instead of sending me?”

“Sylens is not the kind of man who likes to gets his hands dirty. Believe me, I know him.”

“Seems you have a history.”

“You’re avoiding me. If you’re not from Meridian, why are you following me?”

The girl sighed. “I found this in one of the ruins in the west.”

She showed a small data pad to Aloy. Aloy had found a lot of them herself, the ancients had used them to store written texts, recordings of spoken voices or even moving pictures, so they could conserve their voices for eternity. Most of what she knew about the ancient world came from these magical devices.

She scanned it, using her focus. The focus activated the device and between them, the picture of a woman appeared. Aloy had seen her once before, and recognised her immediately as _GAIA_. OF course it was only a representation of something, that was normally unseen, for the actual _GAIA_ had been a machine. But Aloy could not imagine her as anything other than a woman.

Now the image of _GAIA_ began to speak.

“Searching…Restore unit from hibernation…Connecting.” After a few unintelligible noises, the voice continued.

“I am sorry for the emergency activation of this unit. I know it comes a surprise, and I don’t even know if you can understand this message, or its urgency. I have received a signal of unknown origin, that has caused my subsystems to detach from my core. This caused the _Hades_ subsystem to act due to it’s programming and activate. This must be stopped by any means necessary. I have initiated a self destruct for the _GAIA-Prime_ facility, but I am afraid it’s to late. I have initiated the gestation of a genetically identical clone of Doctor Sobeck, in the hopes that she will find the means to restore the core functions and reboot the systems. But it I have to fear that the self destruct sequence will not destroy _HADES_. I need you to find the girl and protect her, until she is old enough to fulfill her destiny. I have a detailed report on the events of the last 11.4 seconds attached to this documents. You will find…”

There was a loud shrieking noise, and then the words “Data corrupted.” Then the message ended.

Aloy felt dizzy. It was the same story, _GAIA_ ’s image had told her inside the Sacred Mountain.

“Where did you find this?” She finally managed to ask the girl.

“I was salvaging one of the ruins. And all of a sudden, all the lights went on on this thing. I knew this was worth investigating. I mean, this stuff has been lying around, dormant and silent for over a thousand years, and suddenly it comes to life and replays a message like that? Would you have ignored it?”

Aloy needed some time to digest this. “No, likely not.”

Paige gave Aloy a moment, before she continued.

“I’ve been looking for you everywhere. And then, all of a sudden, there are stories about this Nora girl, who rides machines and clears the corruption. Who is smart enough to defend Meridian and does all sorts of super-hero stuff. I knew you had to be the girl from the message. The rest was just tracing your footsteps.”

Aloy wasn’t sure what to make of it. This message made the girls story somehow believable, but she didn’t know, if she should trust her. But for now, there was little use in risking a fight by sending her away. Also, Aloy was way too curious about the girls story and the message she just saw. Of _GAIA_ sent this out to someone in the west, she must have known, that there was someone there, who knew about the ancient world. Someone who could have helped. Maybe someone, who could tell her about the origins of that mysterious _signal_ that had been the cause of all this.

Until she found answers to these questions, it was certainly wise to keep an eye on that girl.

“Alright.” She said. “Let’s assume I believe your story. What now?”

Paige smiled. “I will accompany you into the cauldron up there, and help you raid it for information. Then we’ll see.”

“Caudrons are no playground.” Aloy answered. “If it gets tough in there, I may not be able to bust you out.”

“I’ve been inside these things a lot. Most likely more often than you.”

Aloy sighed. “I cannot stop you from following anyway, can I? Very well.” She shouldered her weapons and turned towards her destination. Paige followed.

Then, suddenly, Aloy turned to the girl. “You said, you looked for me for twenty years. No offence, but you look like a Nora kid on her way to the proving. You cannot have been around for that long”

Paige laughed. “Thank you, I am flattered. I wish that were true. If you look closely, you will find, that I am by far not as young as I seem. I am easily twice your age.”

Aloy had a hard time believing that, but she decided to let the topic go, before she said something embarrassing. For a while the two women walked in silence.


End file.
